Concert photo gallery

Our music panelNine people composed our panel that suggested dozens of great concerts from the past 25 years. Yes, they're all men, but it's not for our lack of trying to include women's opinions. The ones we asked, however, did not respond.

Garth Brooks gestures to the crowd during one of his two 1997 concerts at Lawlor Events Center. Those shows came in at No. 8 on our list. / RGJ file

Related Links

In 25 years, the Reno-Tahoe area has seen thousands of concerts come and go, from the small casino showrooms to the large arenas. Lawlor Events Center, which opened in 1984, helped change Reno's concert landscape, growing it from an oft-overlooked outpost, to a main stop for artists over the years ranging from Duran Duran to Pearl Jam. More venues, like the Reno Hilton Amphitheater and Reno Events Center continued to pop up and grow the concert scene, while some listed here (Hilton Amphitheater included), are now gone.

So who put on the best concerts in the past 25 years? Ask 100 people, and you're sure to get 100 different answers. Instead, we polled nine people, all of them firmly entrenched in the area music scene in one way or another. We combined all of our suggestions, and dug through yellowed newspaper clips to unearth some forgotten gems to come up with this highly debatable list. We easily could have made the list twice as long and there still would have been great shows that didn't make the cut (sorry Feist, at Great Basin Brewing Co., 2006). And so now, we bring you the 25 most legendary concerts of the past 25 years.

25 The Cult with Monster Magnet, Reno Hilton Outdoor Amphitheater, 2001. The British psychedelic rock band was on the heels of a comeback album, but it was the classics like "Fire Woman," "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Lil Devil" that got the crowd worked up.

24 Run DMC with the Beastie Boys, Lawlor Events Center, 1987. One member of Run DMC now stars in reality TV, and the Beastie Boys grew out of its snotty 1987-era rap to become one of the genre's biggest. This show got lots of hype for its overzealous, and unwarranted, security measures, but was equally remembered for a good time.

23 Ween, Reno Hilton Theater, 2006. The shape-shifting band played through all of its genres with expert skills, and had the crowd in its lap for three hours.

21 Red Hot Chili Peppers, Reno Livestock Events Center, 1998. Just before the "Californication" album, the Chili Peppers pulled into the Livestock Events Center for this dust-kicking show. A terrible venue for a concert, the Livestock not only has barn-like acoustics, but a dirt floor. But the Chili Peppers overcame. Deftones opened. On the marquee: Tonight, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sunday, Exotic Bird Show.

20. Todd Snider, Rancho Nevada, 1995. Singer-songwriter Snider is practically a hometown hero now, with so many Reno shows and fans, but this early show at this former Verdi joint earned him some friends for life.

19. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lawlor Events Center, 1987. Nearing his career high, Vaughan would be elevated to godlike blues guitarist when he died in a Wisconsin helicopter crash in 1990.

18. Selena, Harveys Lake Tahoe Amphitheater, 1994. This sold-out concert would be her last in the area. She was shot and killed by a business colleague about seven months later. She was immensely popular in the Latino community, and her death was compared to those of Elvis and John Lennon.

17. Smashing Pumpkins with Fountains of Wayne, Lawlor Events Center, 1997. This show saw a fill-in drummer after Jimmy Chamberlain was briefly fired from the band, but at least original guitarist James Iha and bassist D'arcy were still around. It was the beginning of the end of the Pumpkins.

16. Kanye West, Reno Events Center, 2006. The show was a big deal for Reno, even if it didn't sell out. Besides, that left room for West's ego. His "Glow in the Dark Tour" won the overwhelming approval of his fans. Openers Rihanna and N.E.R.D. sealed the deal.

15. Robert Earl Keen, Hacienda del Sol, 1993. Fans of the singer-songwriter who had seen him multiple times said this three-plus hour show was among his best ever. The venue has since been replaced by Peppermill parking.

14. Fugazi, Del Mar Station, 1999. Not only did the kings of D.C. punk-rock finally decide to drop in on Reno, it only cost the fans a measly $6 (sold out, of course).

13. Ministry, Jot Travis Student Union at the University of Nevada, Reno, 1990. Just about to reach the zenith of its career, the bludgeoning industrial-metal band played behind a chain-link fence with openers KMFDM. Much nervousness preceded the show by university officials. (They played another great show at the New Oasis in 2003).

12. The Killers, MontBleu, 2007. Already too big for the size of the MontBleu theater, The Killers delivered a flawless, grandiose set and played most of the songs from both "Hot Fuss" and "Sam's Town."

11. Sting, Reno Hilton Outdoor Amphitheater, 1996. With cameos by Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, Sting played his solo hits and those of The Police, and it was before Sting had become too engrossed in that new-age jazz noodling.

10. Guns N Roses, Lawlor Events Center, 1993. Before Axl Rose became a running joke and he still had Slash and the crew on board, the band held nothing back for its theatrical show. They did, however, force fans to wait for their 11:30 p.m. start time.

9. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Harveys Outdoor Amphitheater, 2008. Plant can't nail the Zeppelin songs anymore, so his stint with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss was the perfect match. Together, the duo played its Grammy-winning originals and peppered the set with bluegrass-stained Zeppelin, Plant and Krauss songs.

8. Garth Brooks, Lawlor Events Center, 1997. The country megastar played for two-plus hours for two nights, selling out both shows. He also collected about 2 tons of food, donated by his fans for the needy.

7. Beck, Pioneer Center, 1997. He brought two turntables and a microphone, and then some. Seeing Beck at this smallish venue at this point in his career was a show many regretted missing.

6. The Who, Reno Events Center, 2007. Only Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend remained of the legendary Brit rockers, but with their struggles behind them, the two put on a mesmerizing show, playing new material and taking fans on a nostalgia trip with images from the past and, of course, the old classics. Even if they didn't play everything perfectly, they didn't act like they had intended to.

5. Pearl Jam with Mudhoney and Urge Overkill, Lawlor Events Center, 1993. Lead singer Eddie Vedder was full of phlegm, but this was a killer triple bill, and Vedder overcame the odds. The band was supposed to return to play outside at Boreal the next year, but canceled because of a heavy snowpack. Pearl Jam never returned.

4. Tom Petty, Lawlor Events Center, 1995. Petty has played many a good show in Reno over the years, but this sold-out 1995 set was behind the winning streak Petty still had going with the "Wildflowers" album of 1994. The crowd was rabid enough to beckon him back for a third encore, even after his crew had started to dismantle the set.

3. David Byrne, Hawkins Amphitheater, 2004. Seeing the alt-rock godfather in such an intimate venue was a treat in itself, but playing such a hit-laden, solid show made it a classic. The fact that he mingled with fans outside the amphitheater following the show put this concert over the top.

2. Prince, Lawlor Events Center, 2004. His 2-and-a-half-hour show was a hit parade and warmup show for his "Musicology" tour. He was in town for a good part of the week rehearsing, and some saw his late-night, impromptu sets at the Reno Hilton's Garage nightclub.

1. Grateful Dead, Boreal Ridge Resort, 1985. It was billed as the "highest Grateful Dead concert in the world," and even though there were reported problems with subpar sound gear, the band drew an estimated crowd of 30,000. Some walked along I-80 from their distant-parked cars to get to the concert. Before the Dead's show, Boreal's attendance record was 12,000, set by Jefferson Starship.
Click here to hear the 1985 concert at Boreal